Spur disk log turner for sawmills



' May 30, 1961 Filed June 17, 1959 H. c. GREENE 2,986,179

SPUR DISK LOG TURNER FOR SAWMILLS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 K. S 0 k 1 k Q Q n aE Herbert 6."6reene INVENTORJ y 1961 H. c. GREENE 2,986,179

SPUR DISK LOG TURNER FOR SAWMILLS Filed June 17, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2Herbert G. Greene INVENTOR.

non Fwy 5M y 1961 H. c. GREENE 2,986,179

SPUH DISK LOG TURNER FOR SAWMILLS Filed June 17, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3Fig. 4 I2 I i 38 e0 74 ,/32 58 62 Fig. 5 64 Herbert G. Greene 1 N VE NTOR.

United States Patent 2,986,179 SPUR DISK LOG TURNER FOR SAWMILLS HerbertC. Greene, Fleetwo'od, N.C. Filed June 17,1959, Ser. No. 821,020

4 Claims. 01. 143-102 The present invention generally relates to sawmillequipmentand more particularly to a device for turning logson asavifrnillcarriage'.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a log turnerfor sawmills which is completely foot operated thus leaving the handsfree for other purposes such as fastening down the log to the carriageafter the log turner has turned the log to the desired position.

Another object of the present invention is to provide alog turner thatis disposed completely in an out-of-theway position below the skid poleswhen not in use thus preventing any possible inteference with movementof the log onto the carriage.

A further important object of the present invention is toprovide a logturner which will turn all size logs with a minimum of damage to the logand which operates directly from the sawmill power supply with a minimumof connections.

,Yet another feature of the present invention is to provide a log turnerwhich will hold the log in position until it canbe secured to thecarriage after the log has been turned and which also turns the logsmoothly and continuously until it reaches the desired position.

Still'another important object of the present invention is to provide alog turner which is simple in operation, easy to use, durable, welladapted for its particular purposes and relatively inexpensive tomanufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming apart hereof, whereinlike numerals ref er to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a perspectiveview of the log turner of the present inventionillustrating its association with the loading ramp or skid poles, thecarriage and other components fas w r H Figure'2 is a plan view of thelog turner illustrating the structural details thereof; 7 I

Figure- 3 is an end view taken substantially upon a plane passing alongreference line 33 of Figure 2 illustrating furtheroriehtatiofi'reatare's of the invention;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 illustrating the log turner inoperative position;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passingalong section line 5-5 of Figure 2 illustrating the mechanism fordriving the log turner in both directions; and

Figure 6 is a detailed sectional view taken substantially upon a planepassing along section line 6-6 of Figure 2 illustrating the constructionof the bearing for the power shaft.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10 generallydesignates the log turner of the present invention for turning a log 12mounted on a carriage 14 which is rollingly supported on a carriagetrack 16 for movement of the carriage 14 and log 12 towards and awayfrom the saw 18 by a suitable power device which ice is well known andnot disclosed here since it forms no a part of the invention. Thecarriage 14 includes transverse support members 20 which receive the logand up-. standing knees 22 which are laterally adjustable on the supportmembers 20 for receiving various sizes of logs. There is also providedmeans for securing the log in position which is not shown. Disposed inalignment with the support members 20 is a pair of built in skid poles24 which are actually channel shaped in construction and havingdepending support members 26 integral therewith. The outer ends of thebuilt in skid poles 24 are provided with extensions 28 supported in aconventional manner for guiding the logs onto the carriage "14 and thelogs are usually rolled down the skid poles by using a manual cant hookor the like.

The log turner 10 includes a generally rectangular frame 30 havingdepending support legs 32 (Figures 4 and 5). The frame 30 is providedwith laterally extending brackets 34 (Figure 2) having bearings 36 onthe outer ends thereof for journaling a power shaft 38. The outer end ofthe power shaft 38 is provided with a pulley 48 which receives powerfrom a belt 42 from the sawmill power source whereby the belt and pulley40 will be rotated. The end of the shaft 38 remote from the bearing 36is received on a bearing 44 carried by an elongated foot pedal member 46which has the inner end thereof pivotally attached to the frame byvirture of-the. hinge pin 48 (Figure 5).

The hinge pin 48 is connected to one of the depending is disposed betwenthe foot pedal 46 and the lower end of the L-shaped-member 52 and a coilspring 56 is disposed above the foot'pedal 46 and the undersurface ofthe bracket 54 thus urging the pedal 46 to a neutral position.

The shaft 38 is provided with a friction pulley 58 thereon which ismovable with the foot pedal 46 for frictional driving'engagement withabelt 60 encircling the same and which belt also encircles an enlargedpulley 62 supported b'y'shaft 64 carried by hearing blocks 66 onlaterally extending brackets 68. The inner end of the shaft 64isprovide'd with a bevel gear 70 (Figures 1 and 2) thereon. The bearing36 is ofthe soft alignment type as illustrated; in Figure '6 whichconstruction enables the end of the shaft 38'atta'ched to the foot pedal46 to swing generally in a vertical plane.

The gear 70 is in meshing engagement with a bevel gear 72 carried by anelongated driven shaft 74 which has a drive pinion 76 thereon inmeshingengagement with an enlarged pinion gear78 journaled between thelegs of the U-shap'edframe 80 which is pivoted for swinging movementabout'theshaft ofth'e axle 74. The shaft 74 is journaled in bearings 82and the gear 78 is journaled about its own axis 84 which is rotatablymounted in the legs of the U-shaped frame 80. The gear 78 is connectedwith a spur gear 86 for engagement with the log and also a brake drum 88for engagement by an adjustabl-e brake shoe 90 (Figures 3 and 4) forcedapart by a spring device 92 which will cause the spur gear 86 and drum88 to rotate when the axle or shaft 74 causes rotation of the gear 78.

The outer end of the U-shap'ed frame 80 has a chain 94 attached theretoand attached to the frame 30 for limiting the upward movement of thegear 78, spur wheel 86 and brake drum 88.

As illustrated in Figure 6, the bearing 36 includes the Patented May 30,1961 usual bearing cap 96 having a grease fitting 98 and a partialspherical member 100 receiving the input shaft 38.

The operation of the invention is effected by upward and downwardmovement of the foot pedal 46. After a log 12 has been positioned on thecarriage 14 in any convenient manner, the foot pedal 46 is depressed.Inasmuch as the shaft 38 is rotating due to power from the sawmill powersource, the pulley 48 thereon will frictionally engage and drive thebelt 60 thus driving the pulley 62 and shaft 64. The shaft 64 drives theshaft 74 by the gearing 70 and 72. Inasmuch as the spur gear 76 is rigidwith the shaft 74, the spur gear 76 will rotate with the shaft 74.Inasmuch as the enlarged spur gear 78 is in meshing engagement with thespur gear 76, the spur gear 78 will be rotated thus causing positiverotation of the enlarged spur gear 78.

The spur gear 78 and spur disk 86 and the drum 88 are connected togetherwith the brake mechanism preventing the gear 78, spur disk 86 and drum88 from rotating due to the brake shoes which are secured with the shaftjournalling these components. Thus, the spur gear 78 and the frame willrotate about the axis defined by the shaft 74 until the spur disk 86engages the log as illustrated in Fig. 4. Further rotation of the shaft74 will cause the log 12 to be rotated substantially about itslongitudinal axis.

As the log 12 is rotated to the desired position, pressure on the footpedal 46 may be released thus permitting the brake to just barely rotatein relation to the slip sutficient so that pressure is exerted againstthe log at all times until the log is secured in position. When the footpedal is in a neutral position, the shaft 74 and the log turningmechanism will not be operative since the drive pulley 58 will slip inrelation to the belt 60:

When it is desired to reverse the log turning mechanism so that it willbe disengaged from the log after the log has been secured, it is onlynecessary to lift upwardly on the foot pedal 46 thus causing the pulley58 to directly engage the pulley 62 thus driving the shaft 64 in thereverse direction and causing the spur disk to pivot downwardly awayfrom the log.

It is pointed out that the foot pedal is positioned in a convenientplace for the sawer to operate the device while leaving the hands freefor permitting the sewer to dog the log after it has been turned to thedesired position on the carriage. Inasmuch as the log turning mechanismis completely out of the way when not being used, it will not interferewith normal loading of the carriage with logs and the log turner may beused somewhat to facilitate the pushing of logs onto the carriage.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A log turning device for turning logs positioned on a sawmillcarriage comprising a frame, a rigid elongated bracket having one endpivotally connected with the frame, a spur disk rotatable on saidbracket for engagement with the surface of a log, means mounted on theframe in continuous driving connection with the spur disk for moving thespur disk into engagement with the log and then rotating the log aboutits longitudinal axis with the rotating means being rendered eifectiveonly after the log has been pushed into position on a sawmill carriage,said means for driving the spur disk includes a gear fixed to the diskand a brake drum fixed to the disk, :1 fixed shaft journaling the diskon the bracket, brake shoe means fixed to said shaft and frictionallyengaging the brake drum whereby to render the spur disk non-rotativeuntil the frictional resistance between the brake shoe and brake drumhas been overcome, and a drive spur gear in engagement with the spurgear fixed to the spur disk whereby the bracket, drum and spur disk willrotate with the drive spur gear as long as the frictional engagementbetween the brake shoe and drum is greater than the resistance ofrotational movement of the spur disk about the axis of the drive spurgear.

2. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said drive spur gear ismounted on a power shaft, a clutch mechanism for selectively connectingthe power shaft to a power supply.

3. The structure as defined in claim 2 wherein said clutch mechanismincludes a belt drive assembly including a pair of spaced pulleys with abelt encircling the pulleys, said pulleys being mounted on spaced shaftswith one of the pulleys and shaft being movable and the other shaftforming the power shaft, a foot pedal connected to the movable shaft formoving the shaft for bringing the pulley thereon into frictionalengagement with the belt for selectively driving the other pulley.

4. The structure as defined in claim 3 wherein said movable pulley has afriction producing peripheral surface whereby movement of the movablepulley in the direction opposite from engagement with the belt willcause the movable pulley to engage the other pulley for rotating theother pulley in the reverse direction in relation to the rotationaldirection when the other pulley is driven from the belt thereby causingthe spur disk to rotate in a reverse direction and cause the spur diskand bracket to move away from the log.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS141,028 Berndt July 22, 1873 151,130 Hunter May 19, 1874 209,881 GattsNov. 12, 1878 424,385 Wardell Mar. 25, 1890 543,757 Stoner July 30, 1895812,823 Clay Feb. 20, 1906 1,320,197 Broomhall Oct. 28, 1919 1,679,445Peaver Aug. 7, 1923 2,100,115 Ward Nov. 23, 1937 2,676,626 Rumsey Apr.27, 1954

